One-to-one instrumental and vocal tuition lives through the combined worlds of music making and conversation. Students and teachers move between playing/singing and talking during lessons, and whilst the use of these different modes of communication varies from student to student and teacher to teacher, it is virtually impossible for the two not to be entwined. Furthermore, the play between these interactions is critical to learning in the relationship. Some research has already begun to explore the impact of various aspects such as the length and frequency of periods of talking and playing (L’Hommidieu, 1992; Duke, Prickett et al, 1998), instances of open and closed questions (Burwell, 2005), and musical modelling compared with verbal instructions (Rosenthal, 1984).

This study explores relationships between verbal conversation and musical exchange through action research of practitioner-teachers in a conservatoire. The starting point is the understanding that as musicians we develop sophisticated communicative and indeed conversational musical skills which often remain a tacit part of our knowledge. However, through processes of musical improvisation and reflecting on these verbally, we can bring some of these skills (such as aspects of listening, adopting a particular role, the use of silence, repetition and variation) to the surface. The purpose of this is that we can then translate them into other contexts. We may be able to draw on them in verbal interaction in one-to-one tuition, or use the understanding to explore a variety of ways of combining musical and verbal improvisation in more detail.

Through iterative cycles of action research, and drawing on the literature of improvisation, specifically Pressing (1984; 1998), a framework of improvisation (musical and verbal) has been developed. This focuses on three areas: the objects of improvisation, including sound quality and pitch, rhythm, texture, use of silence; the features of improvisation, including emotional quality, listening, physical interaction; and the processes and contexts of improvisation, including number of participants, rules imposed, inclusion of an audience.

This workshop will demonstrate the action-research process, moving between musical improvisation and a reflective conversation. Reflection will relate the live improvisation to the evolving framework and show how this work has become embedded in our own practice as teachers and mentors.